Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/706

 686 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

Let us therefore be calm and not be jealous of posterity. Probably our descendants will fly over the ocean in airships in half an hour ; they will possibly and probably make their bread directly from clay ; but it is very doubtful whether they will be happier than ourselves. Yet it will be admitted that the final goal of all our activities is happiness ; and if this is not attained, what is the good of all the screws and machinery?

3. The third consequence is the most important, because, rightly applied, it reconciles us with life. It may be stated as follows : // lies within the power of each individual, as of each people, to increase his happiness on earth, independently of the quan- tity of goods possessed. It is enough for that purpose to lead an active life, ever to see and attain new results; in short, to increase the angle of the "progress curve" Precisely here lies the greatest wisdom of our Creator. It would be a great injustice if our happiness were dependent upon the absolute quantity of goods possessed. Were such the case, those born later would have far better chances for happiness than those born earlier ; and it might be said, paraphrasing the well-known sentence of Mephisto in Faust : "Weh Dir, dass Du ein Grossvater bist ! "

Thus in reality the possibility for happiness is given to every- one as a result of his own efforts, independently of the epoch or the place in which he lives. This has been understood by the great moralists of all ages. " The kingdom of God is within you," said Jesus. Socrates taught this truth by his life and his writings ; the same was done by Seneca ; in our own day it is expounded by Tolstoi.

Perhaps the life of one man means nothing in the world- economy ; perhaps he is only a cellule, a link in a great chain, of some great purpose unknown to us, but for which humanity exists. This all may be. But God has given the same possi- bility for happiness to the cellules, whether living earlier or later ; the same possibility for reaching our little final purpose our personal happiness ; the same possibility to all men of all times and all nations. And this possibility is given to us by the property of our nature that our happiness depends principally on the surplus of goods which we possess, not on their absolute quantity.

WLADIMIR KARAPETOFF.

WlLKINSBURG, PA.